Ariadne Rosethorn
Ariadne Rosethorn, called the Flowersea Foal for being the Lady of the Flowersea at Moonport, is a major character in the second, third and fourth seasons. She is the sixth daughter of Arthur and Hale Rosethorn. Ariadne is the sister and only surviving immediate family of Vivian Rosethorn, and she looks up to Vivian in order to become an equally fierce warrior. Biography Ariadne was born the sixth daughter of Arthur Rosethorn and, as per the House tradition, her sisters were the handmaidens for her mother during the pregnancy, so that they were introduced to hardships early. When she was five years old her father died of greyscale and her sisters, bar fifteen-year-old Vivian, went to bury his body by the cliffs, where the Greyjoys sent ships and raided Moonport. Ariadne's sisters were abducted by the Ironborn invaders, and then they were violently raped, mutilated and groped, before being flayed alive and eventually dying of the agony, shock and blood loss. Their remains were literally gift-wrapped and sent by the Greyjoys to Vivian as a name-day present, but Ariadne was too young to remember or understand this. The young Ariadne idolised her sister, now her only surviving immediate family bar her cousin Spyros, and Vivian proceeded to teach her sister to read, write, sing and ride. Ariadne lived in the comfort provided by her warrior sister, and was always favourably compared with her in terms of physical appearance. She developed a variety of pastimes, including sewing, singing, dancing, riding and swimming, and would regularly visit the villages on the islands, becoming increasingly popular with the townspeople, but always under the protection of Vivian's squire Baltan. Ariadne remembered, at one point, being asked to sing in front of a school of children, and she sang so beautifully that birds circled her, some of them even sat on her shoulder and playfully nibbled her ears. Season 2 Ariadne is seen playing with other girls her age in the high street of Moonport, where she is practising cartwheels and handstands amid a skipping rope, until she sees her sister riding past on horseback to meet a group of captured mutineers. Ariadne is caught gaping admirably at her sister, for which she is teased by her friends. She leaves the group and shadows the horses, watching her sister go by scaling the houses and leaping from rooftops. She is fascinated to see her sister personally execute the mutineers and order that their bodies are cremated and released into the sea to honour their status as islanders. She retreats before Vivian can see she is spying on her Ariadne is later being taught in needlework by Vivian, in which she is obviously proficient but unsure of herself. Ariadne asks about the mutineers, and asks what will happen to the ashes - she answers that what left the sea a sinner must be returned to the sea to repent, indicating their ashes have been cast into the sea. When she asks what Ariadne has been sewing, and Ariadne reveals a distorted image of Vivian's smiling face with an upturned nose, Vivian laughs at this and denies that being her, and when Ariadne insists that it's her, Vivian grabs her sister, wrestles her against her lap and tickles her belly until she, shrieking, apologises and begs for mercy. Stopping, Vivian lets her sister return to her sewing and smiles. The two of them share a sisterly moment briefly, before Vivian is distracted and leaves. When next seen, Ariadne is practising with a poker at swordplay, trying to mimic moves she sees her sister performing but failing at it. She cannot find the right balance for the sword. When Baltan knocks her door, she rushes to replace the poker before bidding him entrance. When Baltan explains how Vivian was attacked by a septa who turns out to be an assassin, Ariadne experiences a fierce panic for her sister until it is revealed that Vivian, though hurt, killed the assassin. When Baltan leaves, assuring her that Vivian will be fine, Ariadne returns to practising, mimicking in her sister's voice We are House Rosethorn - at the crest of the storm! While her sister is being fitted for armour upon the failure to make peace with the Greyjoys, Ariadne is continuing to independently practise with her poker, before her cousin Spyros Rosethorn walks in on her and catches her practising. At first embarrassed by being caught in the act, Spyros promises he won't tell her sister or anyone if she doesn't want anyone to be told. When Ariadne voices that she doesn't think she is being as brave as Vivian was at her age in practising with the sword, since she is doing it with a small poker in her bedroom. Spyros sits her down and recalls how Vivian practised with a sword herself at a young age and, at one point, her father had her punished for it, since ladies weren't supposed to enter combat as per tradition, but this only persuaded Vivian to continue training and one day her mother presented her with her very own sword, officiating her actual training and her father couldn't do anything about it. The moral of the story of it was that she wasn't so dissimilar from her sister as she thought. Before the Battle of Harlaw, Ariadne walks out to meet Vivian, and hugs her painfully. Ariadne hysterically begs that Vivian be careful, because too many things could happen at sea and Ariadne doesn't want to lose her only sister. Vivian promises she will return in one piece, and when Ariadne begs that she comes with her, Vivian firmly rejects, since she doesn't want to lose her only sister either and a battlefield is no place for a twelve-year-old girl. Ariadne quietly asks that when Vivian returns, she teaches her how to use a sword, revealing her having trained in secret with a sword just as Vivian used to. Ariadne promises she will, and soon she will teach Ariadne to be a warrior worthy of Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. Hugging her sister one last time, Vivian turns and boards the Riptide. Ariadne is able to faintly see the explosions of the battle from back at Moonport. Vivian and her army wins the battle, and returns to Moonport to see her sister standing on the pier waiting for them. Vivian disembarks first from the ship, and Ariadne sprints towards her and hugs her so hard she nearly knocks them both into the sea. Vivian smiles and comforts her sister, whispering I told you so. Season 3 Ariadne is seen running free through the streets of Moonport, racing her friends across rooftops, sneakily stealing apples from the markets and then eating them by the harbour. Ariadne is asked by one mischievous blacksmith's boy why she wasn't in the Battle for Harlaw with her legendary sister, fighting for her family as opposed to sitting, safe and sound, in the castle to watch the battle. Unnerved at being challenged, Ariadne explains to the boy that she was required to regent the islands in her sister's stead, and when the boy challenges her ability to rule like her sister, she becomes angry and grabs a broomstick, tossing another one to the boy so he catches it. She challenges him to see if he, a strong blacksmith's boy, can beat her, an inferior girl. The boy accepts and attacks her, but she fiercely defeats him, spraining his wrist against an anvil with one blow. Furious with pain, the boy barges into her and tries to claw at her face, but Ser Spyros intervenes, separating the two and ordering that Ariadne come with him. On the way back to the castle, Ariadne angrily states that she didn't need his help back there and that she could handle herself. Spyros returns that she could have got a lot worse than a silly duel from a boy that strong and boisterous. When Ariadne argues that her strength and character had been challenged, Spyros sympathises because no man expected him to become a decent fighter or a brave man. He points out what Vivian would have done if she heard about the fight, or if she'd been there herself, which scares Ariadne into begging that Spyros doesn't tell her. Spyros agrees, providing that Vivian doesn't get involved in any more brawls. She is later seen with a miserable Yara Greyjoy, their legal prisoner as a result of the Battle of Harlaw in which Vivian personally defeated Yara in single combat, on the beaches of Moonport. She skims stones with Yara and tries to make conversation with the ironborn warrior, but Yara proves aloof. However, Yara does ask her, having ever been curious as to the subject, why Moonport received its name. Ariadne explains that, when Aegon Targaryen I the Conqueror flew across the islands atop Balerion the Dread, he realized that geographically, from above, they made the shape of a crescent moon. Also, the islands are always considered spectacular visually at night with the activity, the stars and the sheer beauty of the sea, the beaches and the streets. When Ariadne offers to show Yara the streets at night, Yara coldly refuses. They are watched from above by Vivian, who has a crossbowman hidden on the cliff watching them to ensure that Yara doesn't attack Ariadne. Vivian proceeds to teach Ariadne how to fight, firstly by teaching her basic stances and postures, making her impatient and desperate to actually cross blades with someone. Entertained, Vivian then proceeds to duel her sister, slowly instructing her on defensive strokes, explaining that defence is better than offence because defence will keep a warrior alive. She proves to be considerably competent, but a little too eager to make a killing stroke that means she is impatient. Vivian recognizes that Ariadne's style of combat is closer to Braavosi water dancing than the ordinary combat techniques of a Westerosi. Once she has proceeded to train Ariadne for three hours, she leaves Ariadne to continue training on her own. Ariadne is skimming stones on her own on the beach, when she is approached by the blacksmith's boy a second time, and notices his hand in bandages from the sprain he received in their fight. He angrily confronts her about the fight and blames her for instigating the challenge that led to the injury, calling her a highborn bitch who wants nothing but to pick fights with innocent, lowborn boys. Ariadne is visibly tempted to fight him again, but instead points out that he was the one who insulted and provoked her into instigating the challenge which injured him. She sees the crossbowman in the trees that is protecting her, personally deducing he is her sister's and employed to protect her. Ariadne tensely offers that they part ways without him injuring himself further. The boy, sensing the seriousness in her voice, backs away and Ariadne nods at the crossbowman, who retreats. While Ariadne is being undressed by her serving girls, Yara enters the room and calls to be left alone with the teenager. When the servants leave, Yara produces Ariadne's green-pearled necklace, which the blacksmith's boy stole during their fight, and gives it back. Ariadne asks Yara to put it back on her and, while Yara smooths back her hair to put it on, Vivian reminisces that the green-pearl necklace was a gift from her mother - that each of the twenty-seven pearls on the necklace was retrieved by sailors from the shores of Telos and that they were netted into a necklace as a name-day present by her mother...and it was her last gift to her daughter before her death. At the subject of her mother, Ariadne begins to cry at the memory of her parent, and Yara comforts her in an embrace. While Ariadne calms down, Yara tells her that it is sad that her mother is dead, but joyous that she had such a beautiful gift made and that it be her last gift on this good earth. Ariadne tells Yara that it has been rumoured among the servants, guards and court, even the townspeople, that the day Ariadne's mother died was the day that Vivian truly became a woman - Yara would later learn the meaning of Ariadne's remark, since Vivian killed the man who killed her mother and was climactically introduced to the true unpredictability of the world. Ariadne learns that, during the attempted treaty between Houses Rosethorn and Greyjoy, Balon betrayed and captured Vivian as a hostage and is spiriting her away to Pyke. She learns this from Spyros and he then tells her that she is consequently the regent ruler of Moonport. Ariadne is left speechless by the news and the only thing that she can be brought to do is shed one, long tear for her sister. She turns and looks out over Moonport and vows that Balon Greyjoy will pay for the further insult he has dealt her family. Season 4 Ariadne arrives late to a council meeting, causing substantial unrest among her councilors bar Spyros, who defends her when she arrives late. She learns that, while her sister is absent and, in addition, a captive of the Greyjoys, her enemies will believe that Moonport is in a status of extreme vulnerability with a young, unknown and statistically inexperienced regent. Believing that her sister would do so, Ariadne decides to offer a percentage of their own food to any family who would support her, which stirs a little controversy in her councilors. Ariadne understands that those who do not come for food are those that do not believe in her honesty, and sure enough the vast majority of Moonport attend to accept food and some even offer themselves as warriors - according to Spyros, the entire islands have united in sympathy for Ariadne. Araidne is met by one of her councilors, Lord Brandon Tarth, and he greets her formally, which she dismisses because formality is irrelevant when they are facing possible attack from a now-confident enemy like the Greyjoys. He reports that, near the harbours, people have become demoralised by Vivian's absence because Vivian's skill, reputation, resolve and image protected them and kept them confident. She comes to the impractical conclusion that they already believe her incompetent, but is rebuffed with the implication that she will take too long to learn how to rule like Vivian than they actually have left, and that by the time that she can step out in the streets to motivate the people the enemy will be crossing their beaches. She receives news from him that a barbarian named Caelan Merlock has started raiding villages left vulnerable in the Greyjoy attacks, and that he is amassing ships towards Moonport. While she is sleeping, she experiences a terrifying nightmare about Vivian's narrowly living body being hung over a pier whilst sharks circle her, and her body is lowered. She violently wakes and is visited by Spyros, who gives her a letter from Caelan Merlock - the letter is sadistic and vicious in content, threatening to raid her islands and rape her women unless she surrender herself to be his mistress. Knowing that she will be victim to brutality at the barbarian's hands, Ariadne panics and orders that ships be sailed to take Merlock's head, but Spyros advises against this and she alternatively decides that they place elementary defences on the outlines of each island and each household be provided with some form of weapon, but she is then faced with the speculation that this will provoke violence in the villages, but she then commissions three soldiers to each street to ensure this doesn't happen. This strategy proves inspiring and people begin to increase faith in Ariadne, and Ariadne herself becomes more self-assured with the people's support. However, this happiness is cut short when Ariadne is busy being dressed into a maroon dress and, halfway through, Ariadne is nearly killed by a poison arrow through her window that skims a lock of her hair and kills a servant. Ariadne runs to the window but sees nobody, only for another arrow to come from the adjacent window and she hides by the bed. She remembers that Vivian kept a crossbow underneath her bed and searches the floorboards desperately, eventually finding it and frantically loading a bolt in it. She rushes to the window and uses one of her candles as a fodder for the next arrow. When the candle is struck, Ariadne rapidly judges the trajectory it came from and fires a crossbow bolt - the bolt strikes her attacker, who falls from the building and disappears. Guards arrive seconds after, and she calls that her attacker is still alive and they leave to hunt for her. The arrows that were fired were made improvisationally, as Lord Tarth explains, so the attacker was one of their own and it was made to look like one of their people didn't believe in her. The guards are dispatched to track down the assassin, distinguished because Ariadne shot him in the stomach. The attack has a controversial effect, however, and people fall behidn Ariadne even further because she has become so effective that somebody wants her dead. Ariadne is frightened by this, knowing that the result of this support will mean the easiest way to demoralise the people would be to kill her personally. She hides Yara's sword under her matress, so that she can unsheath it by pulling it out of the bed. The assassin hides under her bed one night and watches while she undresses and falls into bed. He waits until he is sure she is asleep and sneaks out, preparing to stab her with a dirk. However, while she is sleeping, she experiences another nightmare and begins to turn uncontrollably in her sleep, spoiling his first strike so that he misses. When he tries to stab her again, she slams into him when she accidentally falls out of her bed, waking him up and disarming him of the knife. She awakens and is initially in shock from the attack, but recovers quick enough to draw Yara's sword from her bed. She demands the identity of her assassin, but he doesn't answer and draws a longsword. The two of them briefly duel, and though he is wounded by her crossbow, he quickly gains the upper hand, retrieving his dirk and pinning her against the wall with his sword whilst preparing to stab her with the dirk, but Spyros arrives and stabs him through the mouth with his sword, killing him and frightening Ariadne. While she recovers from the shock of the fight, Ariadne is congratulated on her fortune in the fight, in that she was even lucky enough to wake up before he killed her, and that she fought loud enough to be heard and saved. However, the assassin's identity is unknown, although his allegiance is all too clear to be that of the Grejoys. She learns that the outer islands of Moonport have been raided by small ships at Caelan Merlock's command, but the defences she set up prevailed and forced them to retreat before they lost too much men, so her strategy was ultimately successful. Ariadne decides that their best chance of survival after this is to return Vivian to her homeland and, hearing this, a crippled Ser Florian volunteers to be her lieutenant in the invasion they plan. Vivian amasses a group of ships to attempt a rescue mission, of which she is the leader. Spyros approaches her as she is being fitted into armour and bids her good luck and telsl ehr that she is more like her sister than she could possibly know. Ariadne is moved by his support of her and hugs him, vowing that she will return with Vivian and they will win this war. Setting sail, Ariadne guides the fleet, taking on account the lessons that Vivian gave her on how to steer a ship and guide a fleet, which impresses Ser Florian. She leads them through a fog towards Pyke and launches a surprise attack. The Greyjoys are caught unawares and Ariadne charges ashore with her sister's troops. In the ensuing skirmish, she eludes the troops and goes straight for Pyke castle. Ariadne arrives just as Vivian is escaping and obstructed by Baltan, Ariadne intervenes and kills Baltan and one of his guards, whilst Vivian kills the other. Together, the two of them escape back to her ship. Personality and Appearance Ariadne is described repeatedly to be a younger duplicate of her sister Vivian, and thus shares a multitude of her physical qualities. Like Vivian, she has long, curly yellow hair, but she usually keeps it in a braid along her neck. She has deep brown eyes and soft skin like silk, but her eyes are described to be wider and more curious than Vivian. It is judged by Geryon Greyjoy, by the fact that she doesn't wear her breasts like trophies, that she is underconfident. While Vivian is statuesque, she is slightly short for her age and her belly has a slight layer of fat. Her preferred clothing is more simple than her sister, and she tends to wear maroon dresses with tighter sleeves and black tights. A name-day present from her mother before her death, a green-pearled necklace, hangs around her neck almost perpetually. Ariadne is extremely compassionate, kind and gentle to a fault. She is loving towards anyone she lays eyes upon as a child, and it was commented that the birds would even flutter around her and be confident of her enough to land on her shoulder and nibble her ears. She heavily enjoys sewing, singing and dancing, and visiting the villages of her islands on a regular basis to get to know her people. For this reason, she is adored almost as much as her sister by the people. Ariadne has an unfortunate habit of being naive and too trusting of those around her as a result of her kindness, and she was unable to view as to why the Greyjoys hated her House when the two of them were so unshakably similar. Despite her being gentle and peaceful, she is extremely eager to learn anything that will enable her to make it in an ever-changing world. One of the more visible factors of this is that she is exceptionally reliant on Vivian to raise her, since Vivian always seems to have a better hand on how to handle life than Ariadne can understand. Vivian is extremely protective over her sister, and Ariadne has a huge love for Vivian in return that meant that the two of them were as inseparable as twins. Her reliance on Vivian meant that, when Vivian was captured by the Greyjoys, Ariadne was forced to grow up extremely fast and was put under immense pressure by the prospect that she had to handle the war as good as Vivian did. Also, Ariadne's near-obsession with becoming like her sister has led her to be ignorant to the fact that she is an innocent girl in a world dominated and poisoned by complex adults who would not exercise restraint in hurting her. Ariadne is quick to leap at conclusions and at one point was quickly slighted by a blacksmith's boy insulting her ability in comparison to Vivian. She is reportedly in need of some protection or another, and her cousin Spyros is quick to point out that her sister is only brave and combative when the situation leaves her with no alternative. Category:Female Category:Ladies Category:Major Characters Category:Siblings